How do I set up my web site so the entire thing doesn't need to refresh upon clicking on a single link?

Question

I want people to be able to go from internal page to internal page without the entire web site having to re-load. So the top "bar" and side "bar" stay loaded and only the center of the web site re-loads.
Is that frames? Java script? Is there a tutorial somewhere?

Answer 1

What you are describing is accomplished using frames, and is in this enlightened age generally considered by experts of design and usability to be a "bad thing". I highly recommend rethinking your ambitions for your site. Notice that sites such as Yahoo and Amazon, who spend millions per year on research and development, do not use frames. Why, then, would it make sense for you to do so?

However, if you feel you must absolutely use them, you can learn about them here: http://www.w3schools.com/html/html_frames.asp

Some users may suggest AJAX, but usability research is showing that it is also inappropriate for a web site situation. Users expect web sites to be collections of complete pages (as noted in the Jakob Nielsen article linked to by Mr. Tark), and to behave as such. If you are developing a web site, then stick with the pages paradigm. However, if you are developing a web *application*, then AJAX very well may be appropriate for your needs. Users expect web applications, such as Yahoo! Mail, to be static and behave more like a desktop program, wherein relevant portions of the screen are updated as needed, while retaining the state of the rest of the UI.

Answer 2

For a good article describing why you shouldn't use frames, look here:
http://www.useit.com/alertbox/9612.html

A better and way cooler solution than frames is to use what's known as "AJAX," "Asynchronous JavaScript and XML".

Although Rex M says that AJAX isn't a good solution according to "usability research" (the likes of which I've not seen), it can make for a great alternative to frames to do what you're trying to do.

The argument that "users expect web sites to be collections of complete pages" doesn't make any sense given what you are trying to do. If only the center of the website reloads, it will look the same using AJAX as it would using frames, but AJAX is a much cooler solution.

Also, unlike what shakeelstha says, AJAX has actually been around for some time. If you read the WIkipedia article linked below, you'll see that although the term "AJAX" wasn't coined until 2005, the actual technologies behind AJAX have been in use for much longer.

You definitely do *NOT* need to be an expert in either JavaScript or XML to use AJAX. There are so many people using AJAX today that there are spectacular online resources that make learning to use AJAX really easy, even for people who've never used JavaScript before or don't know what "XML" stands for. Look here for a blog post about getting started with AJAX:
http://rushi.wordpress.com/2006/04/04/beginning-ajax/

An excellent AJAX tutorial is located here:
http://www.w3schools.com/ajax/default.asp

Note that AJAX is probably not the best solution to your problem. As Rex M implied, it is usually far more efficient and user-friendly to let the page "refresh."

Another solution might be to check to make sure you are caching images properly. If images which appear on every page (e.g., a banner or page background) are completely reloading every time you go to each page of your website, then your server is not telling visitors' browsers that they need to cache the images.

For more info. about the cache, see here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_cache

To learn how to use HTML tags to alter how pages are cached, check out this guide:
http://www.codeproject.com/html/meta.asp

Answer 3

The thing you want to do is called as AJAX with is a new concept in web development where only the part of the page is submitted to the server. You need to be expert in Javascript and XML to use this................

Answer 4

choose for frameset and frames...shop all your hyperlinks on a million physique..and whilst u click the link load the web site in yet another physique via putting the objective characteristic of tag...which will remedy ur prob..